News & Views

Apple has officially become the first US listed company to reach the $2trn market cap milestone. In this article, Marco de Matos gives a brief overview of Apple’s meteoric rise to the $2trn behemoth the company is today.

With the change in modus operandi for companies during these turbulent times, we look at Global Talent and how to acquire this locally. Megan Veldman, Moore Johannesburg, Human Resources Manager, takes a closer look.
 

Most organisations are currently looking at their internal resources and cost effectiveness in these turbulent times. Presumably, one of their conundrums will be whether or not to retain the internal audit function. Louw van der Merwe, Director of Moore Risk Services, takes a closer look.

South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 (POPIA), came into effect on 1 July 2020. Pike Law Attorneys in association with Moore CT Forensics take a closer look.

The Moore Advisory Johannesburg team has partnered many entrepreneurs through the sale of their businesses. Based on this experience, the team has put together a six-part series of articles with advice on understanding the sales process. In part 1, it asks: Is your business ready to sell?
 

During the course of the past few days, significant developments have taken place with respect to the UIF Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (“TERS”) as well as the Lockdown regulations.

Anél Jacobs, our L&D lead, brings us ten books by women to read this women’s month, covering everything from the power of passion and perseverance, to the gift of radical candour. Charge up your bookstand or kindle and be inspired.

In celebration of Women’s month, Moore Johannesburg Director, and mom, Candice Whitefield, looks at the increased challenges women are dealing with as a result of COVID-19, and shares some of her tips for creating balance.

The corporate governance principles contained in the King IV (King Code) are in general voluntary. However, from 31 December 2020, organisations will be compelled to disclose additional information regarding corporate governance practices in their annual reports. Henco Beukes of Moore Johannesburg, takes a closer look.

On the 5 May 2020 the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, held a media brief in which fundamental changes were announced to the 2020 tax filing season in relation to personal income tax. To see the full media release, please click here.

Kieswetter stated “more than ever before, we need taxpayers to remain compliant!” and as such SARS have designed a three-phase approach for the filing season commencing in April 2020 and ending in January 2021. According to SARS the different phases will ensure a “seamless filing season”.

Earlier today the Minister of the Department of Employment and Labour (“DEL”) announced that applications for the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (“TERS”), operated by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”), will be extended until 15 August 2020.

As part of the government’s response to the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) has been managing the processing and payment of claims submitted in relation to the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”).

The total payments made to employers/employees, as confirmed by the Department of Employment and Labour up to and including the 19th of June 2020 is close to R 24 billion - R 6 billion of which solely relates to the month of May.

On the 12th of July 2020, the President announced further amendments to the Lockdown Level 3 Regulations in terms of the Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002. These amendments have been made in the wake of an exponential increase in positive COVID-19 test results throughout South Africa, specifically the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

IFRS 16 Leases contains requirements that specify the accounting for changes in lease payments, including rent concessions, where entities are required to assess whether such rent concessions are lease modifications.

As part of the government’s response to the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) has been managing the processing and payment of claims submitted in relation to the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”).

The total payments made to employers/employees, as confirmed by the Department of Employment and Labour (“DEL”) on 26 May 2020, is just over R 15 billion. These payments, however, only relate to the month of April. UIF TERS relief for May has been long awaited by employers and employees.

The schedule hereunder illustrates the relevant EMP201 submissions and payments impacted by the deferral of payment of 35% of the PAYE liability as well as the submissions and payments impacted by the six-month instalment catch-up of the four-month 35% PAYE liability previously deferred.

On 13 May 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa re-affirmed the government’s commitment to balancing the health of the South African people and the ability of those exact people to earn a living. He commented that the positivity rate has remained low and stable, allowing for a further relaxation of the regulations under Level 4. We have already seen some of these relaxations implemented during the course of May.
 
The take away from his latest speech was that the government will immediately begin a process of consultation with relevant stakeholders on a proposal that by the end of May, most of the country be placed on Level 3, but that those parts of the country with the highest rates of infection remain on Level 4. Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize announced that the lockdown will be assigned on a district basis and not provincial as initially speculated.
 
The full speech of the president of 13 May 2020 can be located HERE.
 
An updated version of the regulations under Level 3 has not yet been released, but we will communicate as such when more information becomes available.
 
Since our “Moore: Alert” on the Level 4 Lockdown Regulations, which can be located HERE, additional information has been released by the National Treasury, the UIF and the government on various matters.
 
In this article we communicate the latest developments with respect to UIF TERS, Tax Relief and Level 4 Lockdown Regulations in order to ensure our client base remains informed and vigilant. We request our readers to read our article in conjunction with the relevant source documents, where referred to.

South Africa is entering Lockdown Level 4 on 1 May 2020. This has far reaching implications for employers, employees and the business community at large.
 
The regulations issued by the South African government (the “government”) on 29 April 2020 are very detailed and specific to each respective industry and employer. Due to the large volume of information we cannot communicate the intricacies of the regulations and have therefore elected to rather ensure our client base has access to the relevant source documents in order to investigate and conclude on their own.
 
The pertinent information is detailed below and must be read with the source documents referred to:

At approximately 8:30 pm on 21 April 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a government backed COVID-19 relief package of unparalleled magnitude never before seen – worth an estimated R500 billion. This roughly equates to 10% of the South African GDP.

To put this in perspective – it is roughly R50 billion more than the entire Eskom Debt to date, which has dominated the news headlines over the recent years. The majority of the R500 billion relief package will be funded by additional debt the government will bring onto the balance sheet of South Africa from various international financial institutions, with the minority of the relief package being funded via available government funds and a reallocation of the current budget

Subsequent to our previous article (click HERE) which discussed, amongst other topics, the intricacies of the COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (“C19 TERS”), the Department of Employment and Labour (“DEL”) have made numerous amendments to the relevant requirements and the application process.
 
We suspect that more amendments will inevitably be implemented by the DEL in relation to C19 TERS, but we are of the opinion that the material amendments have been made and that a form of ‘stability’ has been reached.
 
We would like to take this opportunity to point out that certain spokespeople have issued statements that are contradictory to the information published in the government gazette and/or in UIF/TERS Guidelines. Verbal statements by Ministers or similar Representatives on media platforms do not amend the published laws, regulations and guidelines and are non-binding.
 
In this article we delve into what the current format of C19 TERS entails, what the requirements as at 20 April 2020 are, who can apply and where to apply. Lastly, we answer a number of frequently asked questions.
 
Our specialist tax and advisory teams at Moore SA are committed to ensure our clients have access to accurate and relevant information at all times which supports the commercial decision-making process. We remain cognisant of the fact that information changes on a frequent basis. Our commitment to our readers during the Lockdown period, however, remains the unchanged:
 
Helping you thrive in a changing world
 
We have condensed the most pertinent information from lengthy and in-depth government sources, but request our readers to, where source documents are referred to in this article, read our article in conjunction with the source documents before making decisions.